A plot cannot be re-reserved after lapse of first reservation: HC

The Bombay high court on Friday said that a plot cannot be re-reserved after the lapse of its first reservation for a public amenity

The Bombay high court on Friday said that a plot cannot be re-reserved after the lapse of its first reservation for a public amenity.

Bombay high court HT Archives

A division bench of justices R D Dhanuka and Kamal Khata was hearing a petition by the owners of a 752.49 square metre plot in Bandra which challenged a government notification.

As per the plea, the plot was allotted for a municipal primary school in the Development Plan 1991. However, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) failed to acquire it within the stipulated 10 years, and in 2015, the state issued a notification and re-reserved the plot under Development Plan 2034.

The HC set aside the notification and said as the authorities had failed to take steps as per the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act, leading to the lapse, it could not re-reserve the plot. The bench also directed the authorities to grant the permissions required by the petitioners/owners for personal benefit.

Advocates Bhushan Deshmukh and Sahil Gandhi for the petitioners said the plot had been reserved on May 6, 1992. However, the authorities failed to acquire the land in the stipulated period till May 6, 2022. In August 2007, the petitioners had written to the authorities asking them to purchase the plot but the authorities failed to take any action.

Senior advocate Joaquim Reis for the BMC said after the petitioners had issued the purchase notice in 2007, work on acquiring the land started. Measurements and deciding on quantum of compensation was decided over a period of eight years. He also said that simultaneously work of acquiring adjacent plots was also under way; hence, the claim that the reservation had lapsed was not valid.

He said as the BMC had issued a notification on July 27, 2018 under section 19 of the 2013 Land Acquisition Act and was willing to acquire the reserved land, the petition should be dismissed.

After hearing the submissions, the bench referred to a previous judgement of the HC with regards to lapse of reserved plots and said, “The division bench of this court in case of Bombay Salesian Society [supra] has held that if no steps are taken within the time prescribed to acquire the land which is the subject matter of notice, the reservation, allotment or designation shall be deemed to have lapsed and the land should be deemed to be released from reservation, allotment or designation and shall become available to the owner for the purpose of development.”